In discussion with our BOE, there has been some back and forth regarding what skills can/should be evaluated during tryouts. As the district has insisted cheer leading is viewed as a sport, I contend at the very least, appearance should NOT be a category on the tryout sheet. Additionally, the current stance is that actual cheer skills (particularly those related to stunting) cannot be evaluated because 1. it is too dangerous and 2 there is no way to know what a particular athlete can actually do. I find this a vexing position to take- essentially years of practice/experience are irrelevant. There is a committee meeting upcoming at which I am to present what the "standard" actually is. I've been doing some research, but thought I would ask here as well....
How does your district organize the sheet and handle evaluations in general? What skills do you assess and how do you evaluate/score those sections?
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
We as the coaches ultimately choose our team(s). We hold tryouts with 3rd party judges to allow for athlete skills to be categorically defined and judged to ascertain new members versus old, etc.
Stunting is a very minimal part of our tryout tbh.
Attendees are asked to show the following at our tryouts:
-1 jump
-optional combo jump or jump/tumble (if they have it and want to try to earn extra points)
-best standing pass
-best running pass
-optional additional pass (if they have advanced tumbling, this is to their advantage)
-standing tumbling skill (tuck is preferred, bhs allowed if no tuck) - shown 3x to ensure it is a skill and not luck
-a stunt or sequence (we hold 4 tryout open gym clinics in the lead up to tryouts, where athletes are told and encouraged to work with others to make a stunt that is hit-able for tryouts -- we specifically say we do not want partner stunt routines or craziness, just want to see how you stunt with your role in the group, how you practice it, and how you executed it in the tryout. That part majorly, matters to a coach building their team)
-fight song
-overall (which includes appearance - did you care about tryouts? did you follow the instructions about what to wear? do you care how others view you in public? that all matters a lot once you are on the team, so putting a bit of that in tryouts is a nice preview as a coach)
Are there actual schools/colleges that have appearance in there tryout eval?
At Colleges all over this is true and valid. Especially in the south. Having the 'look' for a 100+ million dollar athletics entertainment business is key for some of these schools.
